Move ahead on curbside recycling

Now is the time to move ahead on curbside recycling.

Benton City Council's community service committee is reviewing a resolution that encourages recycling. As written, the non-binding document called for taking up to two years to set up curbside collection of recyclables, and encouraged Benton Utilities to work with a non-profit group that has expressed an interested in citywide recycling.

It's vital to move forward.

Prior to the general election, a Benton talk show host, while saying he supported recycling, seemed to oppose developing plans at this time.

Without citing any sources, the host said "he'd heard" rates could be $35 or even $50 monthly for trash and recycling. "It doesn't sound like it's the thing right now," the naysayer said, grimacing.

But it's the perfect time.

Creating a great recycling program will take many months. Setting it up when the market is down will poise the program to take advantage of the bounce back. (Benton Community Services supervisor Jim Towe recently attended a state-sponsored recycling seminar, and found that prices paid for most materials have declined. Glass has risen substantially during the past year.)

The market for recyclable materials will always be cyclical. But what better time to start long-range plans than when the market is down?

Within the one or two years the program may take to start up, markets are likely to rise. Benton could be poised for surfing a rising wave of prices.

And there are savings from reducing the waste stream — less money spent on tipping fees, extending the landfill's life, doing the right thing for our grandchildren.

A resolution calling for recycling is accompanied by a draft ordinance telling Benton Utilities to create a zoned system of private enterprise trash collection.

The utility would be asked to create a trash collection proposal within six months for potential approval by the city council.

For the first time, trash haulers would be required to carry liability insurance. The proposed ordinance would help the city meet state and federal waste mandates.

While trash collection is usually a governmentoperated system, Benton's proposal would have private haulers collecting waste.

The ordinance was tabled recently by the council and returned to the Community Services Committee for further consideration.

To be financially viable, it's vital for as many communities as possible to participate in recycling. Hopefully, Benton will seek participation from surrounding cities and the county; perhaps even from other counties.